


55. An awkward call

by alley_oops, jennandanica



Series: Citadel: Sam Worthington and Ryan Kwanten [55]
Category: Actor RPF, Australian Actor RPF, Citadel (Journalfen RPG), True Blood RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-03
Updated: 2008-11-03
Packaged: 2018-01-15 08:24:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1298086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alley_oops/pseuds/alley_oops, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennandanica/pseuds/jennandanica





	55. An awkward call

_**Ryan Kwanten gets a call from his mum at an awkward time**_  
[current; occurs only a few hours [after this](http://www.journalfen.net/users/sam_worthington/7634.html)]

The ringing of his cell phone startles Ryan out of a doze. For lack of better daytime telly options, he’s been watching old reruns of _Neighbours_ \- was Jesse Spencer really ever that baby-faced? - and mostly zoning out. The first thing he notices is how tired his muscles are getting of the unnatural position he’s cuffed in, sore arms stretched above his head. The second thing he notices wipes every other thought from his mind. The ringtone playing is Grieg’s ominous _Hall of Mountain King_.

That’d be his mum.

Suddenly tense, he grabs for the phone and flips it open, hoping the clanking of the handcuffs isn’t too audible over the line. “Hey, Mum.”

“Darling! How are you?” Her cheery voice calls to mind an instant image of her smiling face, and Ryan can’t help but smile in return.

“Great, really good,” he answers, thinking it’s a damn good thing she can’t see him right now. “How about you?”

“Oh the usual, you know. My hypertension specialist tells me I need to lose weight. My cardiologist wants me to see a pulmonologist. Same old thing, blah blah blah,” she answers.

“A-- what? A pulmonologist?” Ryan frowns. “Mum, that’s a lot of doctors. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, darling, nothing. Just the usual, I told you. Anyway,” she says firmly, making it clear the subject is closed, “did you get the parcel I sent you?”

Ryan relaxes back against the pillows with a sigh. “Yes, Mum. I got it.” Carefully not saying anything else. Not a darn thing about the [friggin’ picture](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/sally_simpson/Ryan/neil-patrick-harris-300.jpg) she’d included with the homemade cookies, the one of Neil Patrick Harris and his husband out and about with their twin babies.

“And...?” she presses.

“Mum,” Ryan says, “I get it. You want grandchildren. I know.”

“Not just any grandchildren!” she insists. “ _My_ grandchildren! Did you see how dear they looked, Ryan? Those precious babies, and such handsome fathers! A beautiful family, out in the world. They--”

“ _Mum_.” She can - and will - go on and on like this if he doesn’t stop her, he knows. “I’m not having any kids just yet. I need you to accept this.”

“But what about your Sam?” she persists, undaunted. “Perhaps he’d like children. Have you talked about it with him at all? Don’t try to hide from me, Ryan. I know you’re serious about him.”

“No, you see -- that’s not -- _yes_ , Mum, I’m very serious about Sam. But he’s not in a position in his career to come out with a family, all right? I need you to accept that too.” Ryan frowns in mild exasperation, trying to figure out how to explain it. “Mum, I haven’t told you who he is yet.” He takes a deep breath, steeling himself; even though Sam said it was okay to reveal his identity, Ryan is still nervous about actually doing it. “It’s Sam Worthington.”

“Sam Worthington?” she asks after a moment of fraught silence. “I know you said he’s an actor, but... Sam Worthington, the _big_ actor?”

Ryan laughs. “Yes, Mum. That one.” He can actually hear her surprise, loud and clear.

“Sam Worthington is gay?”

“He is now,” Ryan mutters, looking around Sam’s trailer.

Ryan’s mum recovers remarkably quickly. “Well, I have to meet him! Bring him home, Ryan, don’t hide him away!”

“No,” Ryan says firmly, “no, I’m not bringing him home just so you can pressure him about us adopting kids.”

“Ryan, I would never!” She actually does a fair approximation of shock. He knows it’s all bullshit. “We just need to meet the most important man in your life. It’s been so long since Andrew--”

“Let’s not talk about him,” Ryan cuts in.

“Well, of course not, why would we want to?” she retorts, as if _he’d_ introduced the subject. “I’m just pointing out how long it’s been. And now you’re serious enough about someone to be living with him, and it’s about time he got to know your family.”

“So he can turn tail and run?” Ryan rolls his eyes at the ceiling.

“Ryan Christian Kwanten, don’t you even. Or I’ll start to think you’re genuinely ashamed of us.”

“Mum...” he sighs, and shifts on the bed, trying to find a more comfortable position that doesn’t have his arms screaming. No such luck. “You know I’m not. That’s not what I meant. I just... I just don’t want you pressuring him. Okay? Sam’s got enough on his plate. And we’re really happy together just as we are. Don’t freak him out.”

“If he freaks out that easily...”

“ _Mum_.”

“All right! No pressuring, I promise. Now you promise.”

Ryan frowns. Some promises aren’t worth a damn thing. But there’s really no getting around it; she’s his mum. “I promise to bring him home to meet everyone,” he recites dutifully. Then adds, “When he’s ready.”

“Good enough!” she chirps. “So how is your writing going?”

“It’s good, I actually need to get back to it. I’m right in the middle of a passage,” he lies. Ordinarily he’d talk to his mum for a good hour, but he’s never tried before to have a conversation with her while he’s wearing a cock ring. It’s just too fucking weird. “I’ll call you soon, all right?”

“You’d better. We miss you, darling.”

“I miss you too, mum. Love you,” he says, and ends the call. Yeah, he'd kind of hid the Neil Patrick Harris picture from Sam, just passing along the home-baked cookies. But if his mother is bringing out that kind of heavy artillery, then his lover really deserves a warning.

 _After_ Sam pulls this godforsaken cock plug out of him.  



End file.
